Northern Ireland to lift a ban on Gay men donating blood.....

Gay blood donation: Lifetime ban in NI on gay men donating blood is to be lifted

• 31 minutes ago
 
• From the section Northern Ireland

Image captionA lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men giving blood came into force across the UK during the 1980s AIDS crisis

Northern Ireland's lifetime ban on gay men donating blood is to be lifted.

Health Minister Michelle O'Neill said the new policy will come into effect on September 1.

At present in Northern Ireland, any man who has had sex with another man is banned from giving blood permanently.

A ban on gay men donating blood was brought in across the UK during the 1980s AIDS crisis, but was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in November 2011.

Northern Ireland retained the permanent ban.

Ms O'Neill said on Thursday that she would lift the ban in favour of a '"one-year deferral system" as is the case in the rest of the UK.

This means that gay and bisexual men can give blood one year after their last sexual contact with another man.

Michelle O'Neill said: "The safety of donated blood depends on two things: donor selection and the testing of blood.

"Every blood donation is tested for HIV and a number of other organisms. 

"Not even the most advanced tests are 100% reliable, so it is vitally important for every donor to comply with any deferral rules that apply to them.

'Common sense'

"I will instruct the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service accordingly."

Mark H Durkan, from the SDLP, said the ban had led to a "ludicrous situation" in which gay men could not donate blood but people in Northern Ireland could still receive blood from the rest of the UK "where there was no such ban". 

"Today is a victory for common sense and for equality," he added.

"I only regret it took so long for the Department of Health to lift the ban and remove some of the prejudice against gay people in the north."

Alliance Party MLA Kellie Armstrong described the lifting of the ban as a "massive step towards true equality". 

"I am pleased action has finally been taken and an absurd blood ban that everyone could see was not based on available evidence but rather discrimination has been ended."

In May, a man took a legal challenge against the ban to the UK's supreme court.

This came after the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled in March that it was up to Stormont's health minister whether the lifetime ban should be lifted. 

The court also dismissed a ruling in 2013 that former health minister Edwin Poots had acted irrationally or with apparent bias by keeping the ban in place.

BHS store is set to go into Liquidation with the loss of 11,000 Jobs.....

Retailer BHS set for liquidation

• 2 minutes ago
 
• From the section Business

Department store BHS is to go into liquidation with the loss of up to 11,000 jobs after efforts to find a buyer failed.

The decision followed a lengthy bidding process aimed at saving BHS, which went into administration in April.

In the end, none of the offers was judged acceptable by administrators Duff & Phelps.

Three firms - Alteri, Hilco and Gordon Brothers - have been lined up as liquidators.

Duff & Phelps blamed "seismic shifts" in the retail environment for the collapse.

Closing sales

"Despite the considerable efforts of the administrators and BHS senior management, it has not been possible to agree a sale of the business," said the administrators in a statement.

"Although multiple offers were received, none were able to complete a deal due to the working capital required to secure the future of the company.

"Our thoughts today are with the employees. We thank them for their professionalism and hard work. We would also like to thank the great British public for helping us in our efforts to save BHS resulting in several weeks of significant sales."

All 163 BHS stores will be holding closing sales over the coming weeks.

The jobs of 8,000 members of staff are likely to go, while a further 3,000 jobs of non-BHS employees who work in the stores may also be at risk.

"The British High Street is changing and in these turbulent times for retailers, BHS has fallen as another victim of the seismic shifts we are seeing," said Philip Duffy, managing director of Duff & Phelps and joint administrator.

"The tireless work and goodwill of the existing management team and employees of BHS with the support of my team were not enough to change the fortunes of the company."

French Open: Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams reach Quarter finals....

French Open: Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic reach quarter-finals

• 1 Jun
• From the sectionTennis

Williams has now won her last 18 sets at Roland Garros

French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

Top seeds Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic finally made it through to the quarter-finals as the rain abated at the French Open.

Williams wasted little time in beating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-1 in their rain-delayed fourth-round match 

Djokovic completed a 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-5 win over Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, having resumed in the third set.

Andy Murray was then scheduled to take on France's Richard Gasquet in the first of the men's quarter-finals.

Belgian 12th seed David Goffin completed the fourth round by beating Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-3, and he will face Austria's 13th seed Dominic Thiem, who beat Marcel Granollers 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-4.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza became the first player to reach the semi-finals with a 7-5 6-3 win over unseeded American Shelby Rogers.

Muguruza will play 2010 finalist Sam Stosur of Australia, who beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 7-6 (8-6).

Djokovic becomes the $100m man

Djokovic made light of the damp conditions in Paris after his win

Victory over Bautista Agut took Djokovic into the quarter-finals, and brought him the distinction of becoming the first man to break the $100m mark in prize money.

The Serb, 29, admitted that coach Boris Becker and the rest of his team had helped turn around his fortunes after a lacklustre start in poor weather on Tuesday.

"With my coaching team, we had some tough talks on Tuesday night," said Djokovic.

"But I came back today with more intensity even though it was a tough mental and physical battle."

Djokovic goes on to face Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, who beat David Ferrer 6-3 7-5 6-3. 

Serena through, Venus out

World number one Serena Williams looked impressive as she saw off 18th seed Svitolina in just 62 minutes, making it 18 sets in a row for the American at Roland Garros.

She will next play unseeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, who beat Spanish 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 7-5 7-5 - the first of a potential four matches in four days.

Timea Bacsinszky (right) had given up tennis and was working in a hotel before giving the sport a second chance in 2013.

"Four in a row? When we play regular tournaments you play four, five matches in a row. It's what happens," said Williams.

"It's something you just get used to. It's totally fine I think for me and for everyone."

Venus Williams did not fare as well as her sister, losing 6-2 6-4 to Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky.

Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands made it four unseeded players in the women's quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over American 15th seed Madison Keys.

Forget defends weather calls

Former top-five player Forget is in his first year as tournament director of the French Open

After Monday's play was completely washed out, tournament director Guy Forget defended the fact that 121 minutes of play - two more than necessary to refund ticket-holders - took place on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday.

Bautista Agut had claimed after his loss to Djokovic that tournament officials had "pushed us to play two hours", while defeated seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep also criticised the decision to play on in wet conditions.

Former finalist John McEnroe told BBC Sport that continuing with matches had created a "lousy situation" and it was fortunate that no players were injured.

Spaniard David Ferrer was even more strident. "The players are those who mean the least to the organisers. They want to make money, it may look good to some, but I think this is a scam," he said after his own defeat to Berdych.

But Forget insisted all decisions on whether play should take place are taken for sporting, rather than financial, reasons.

"The decision to suspend or resume play lies solely with tournament referee Stefan Fransson. Respect for the game always takes precedence," said Forget.

"If what we are being accused of were true, it would have been in our best interests as organisers to stop play before the one-hour 59-minute mark as our insurer would have been responsible for ticket reimbursement.

"That was not the basis of our decision. Our aim was to play for as long as possible, even if that meant being criticised for playing in difficult conditions."

French Open: Andy Murray reaches Semi-Final.....

French Open: Andy Murray fights back to beat Richard Gasquet

• 4 hours ago
• From the sectionTennis

Murray is through to his fourth semi-final at Roland Garros

French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

Andy Murray eventually found his form to get the better of home favourite Richard Gasquet and reach the semi-finals of the French Open.

Murray lost the first set from 5-2 up and let a similar lead slip in the second before taking the tie-break, and going on to win 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 6-2.

The Scot, seeded second, will face holder Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the last four on Friday.

Third seed Wawrinka beat Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-1 7-6 (9-7).

Murray has now won his last 10 matches, having won the Italian Open last month, and is through to his fourth French Open and 19th Grand Slam semi-final.

In the other half of the draw, rain delays mean the quarter-finals between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, and David Goffin and Dominic Thiem, will be played on Thursday.

Gasquet lets chance slip in tie-break

Murray had won all four previous Grand Slam meetings with Gasquet but gave the Frenchman every opportunity to improve on that record.

Gasquet was playing his first French Open quarter-final

The Briton earned a 5-2 lead before his early success with drop shots disappeared, and double faults at key times helped Gasquet run through five straight games.

A similar pattern followed in the second set, as Murray again failed to serve out from 5-2 and fell 3-1 down in the tie-break, but he gathered himself to finally take control with six straight points.

The Parisian crowd had been hoping their man could emulate Yannick Noah's title-winning run of 1983, but Gasquet's challenge faded dramatically in the third set.

After the first two sets took well over two hours, Murray raced through the third in 27 minutes, and a sharp forehand volley gave him the decisive breakthrough early in the fourth.

"Stop it!" shouted Murray after his fourth double fault of the afternoon but it did not signal another collapse, and the world number two reeled off 13 of the last 15 games to win in three hours and 23 minutes.

'I was playing some good stuff'

The poor weather in Paris meant Murray was playing for the first time since beating John Isner on Sunday, and he felt that was behind his inconsistent form in the early stages.

"It wasn't easy for me today," said the Scot. "I played two guys where you get zero rhythm, against [Ivo] Karlovic and Isner. 

"Then a two-day break where you're barely hitting any balls because of the conditions. It was 30, 40 minutes of hitting.

"Then coming out and playing a completely different match today, I thought I did well for the most part in a tough atmosphere, too. It's not bad. I was playing some good stuff. I finished the match extremely well, I think."

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Murray has now won eight of his 11 matches against Gasquet

"It is unusual to see Murray concede a 5-2 advantage once, let alone twice, but Gasquet deserves huge credit for the way he played in the opening two sets. The drop shot had been Murray's trump card in the early exchanges, but Gasquet started to read it, and given the physical nature of the match, a two-set deficit would have been very hard to retrieve.

"With Gasquet visibly tiring in the third set, Murray dragged him from one side of the court to the other as he soon assumed complete control. 

"Murray has now played 20 sets in 5 rounds, but both he and Wawrinka have the benefit of a day off which won't be afforded to the quarter-finalists in the other half of the draw."